Ministère de la Justice

The Ministère de la Justice works from the Hôtel de Bourvallais, an elegant hôtel particulier in the first arrondissement of Paris. Robert de Cotte built the house between 1699 and 1702 for the marquis Joseph-Guillaume de La Vieuville. Neighbours include the Hôtel de Simiane and the Ritz Paris, and the entrance is wheelchair accessible.

Ownership passed to the financier Guyon de Bruslon and then to Paul Poisson de Bourvallais, a fermier général. In 1718, under the regency of Philippe d'Orléans, the government confiscated the property over financial malfeasance. The chambre ardente, an extraordinary chamber of justice, had uncovered serious abuses among the financiers who handled the royal treasury. The chamber fined many and demanded restitutions, Bourvallais among them, and the public treasury took over his hôtel. A royal decree of 5 September 1718 assigned the building to the Chancellery, and the ministry has occupied the address since 1719.

Fire partly destroyed the house in 1793, yet the minister's office, once a royal library, survived. The room overlooks a long garden bordered by rose alleys and ending in a basin. France classified the building as a historical monument on 22 February 1982 and inscribed it on 7 November 1991. Inside that office still sit the desk of Cambacérès and the sealing press used for the Constitution.